Line-scan image capturing devices are often used when an image of an object is to be acquired with high spectral resolution. Line-scan image capturing devices may typically be used in remote sensing or imaging of objects on a conveyor belt, wherein the object moves in relation to the image sensor.
A line-scan image capturing device may image a particular part of an object onto a row of pixels on an image sensor. As the object is moved, the particular part of the object is imaged onto another row of pixels on the image sensor. Different rows of pixels may be sensitive to different wavelengths of light, such that, as the object is moved over the sensor area, an image with high spectral and spatial resolution may be obtained.
Using a line-scan image capturing device may be particularly useful in specific applications, e.g. in remote sensing in light-starved situations, such as a camera installed in an aerial vehicle which monitors the ground below, and in imaging of objects on a conveyor belt. In such applications, the recording of received light in image rows may be synchronized with movement speed of the object on the sensor surface.
Imaging of objects using a line-scan image capturing device is not very fast, as the object needs to be moved across the sensor surface in order for a full spectrally resolved image to be acquired. Also, the imaging is adapted to movement of an object in relation to the image capturing device.
It would be desirable to extend usage of the concept of line-scan imaging to other applications.